Many different types of products include elongated components, and it is often necessary to perform manufacturing operations on such elongated components prior to final assembly. For example, a commercial airplane typically has many elongated tubes, including tubes having various bends and turns. Such tubes may require processing, such as swaging fittings onto the ends, to allow the tubes to be assembled with other components. In many cases, the processing of such elongated components prior to final assembly may be difficult.
For example, in the above-noted example, a conventional tube swaging process involves a mechanic operating a swaging machine with one hand while inserting an end of an elongated tube with the other hand. The elongated tube may be relatively long and oddly shaped. Thus, the weight of the elongated tube as it projects outwardly from the swaging machine is supported by the mechanic's hand. Alternately, a fixed support may be positioned under a distal end of the elongated tube, or another mechanic may support the distal end, during the swaging process.
Although desirable results have been achieved using such prior art methods, there may be room for improvement. For example, because the elongated tubes typically are irregularly shaped, each elongated tube may have a different balance point. It may therefore be necessary for the mechanic to manually support the elongated tube during the swaging process whenever the fixed support does not accommodate the particular geometry of the elongated tube. Involving two mechanics in the process of swaging the elongated tubes undesirably increases the labor costs associated with this manufacturing process. Thus, apparatus and methods of supporting elongated members that mitigate or eliminate these disadvantages would be useful.